The next day the stadium was filled with loud cheers. "Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the First Match of the Semi-finals. We have two trainers here ready to do battle, but only one of them will move onto the finals. First we have Jon Dickson of Sento Cherry Town who has steadily climbed his way up to the Semi-finals and the other trainer is young Ash Ketchum who has shown his excellent skill and his possession of a legendary Pokémon. Also by being in the Semi-finals Ash Ketchum has broken the record for the youngest trainer to ever make it to the Semi-finals at 11 years and 10 months old." The crowd cheered particularly loud.

"I'm so proud of him" Delia said happy as she continued to snap pictures like crazy.

"It has been many years that a trainer from Pallet has ever gotten this far into any League" Professor Oak said in a prideful voice. 'Not since Ash's father to be precise.' Professor Oak looked up at the sky slightly, 'Wherever you are... I hope you are watching your son because I can only imagine how proud of him you are right now.'

Ash took the green side of the field while Jon was on the red side, "And now we shall determine what field you shall be battling on" the ref said. The screen began dancing through the four selections before stopping on the one shaped like a rock. "The battle will be fought on a rock field." The neutral stadium changed into a field full of large and small rocks sticking around everywhere. "No to determine which trainer will be sending out their Pokémon first" the ref said. The colors now began flashing around the red and green segment before it slowed down. Ash and Jon watched with their breaths held until it landed on the red segment. "And Jon Dickson will send out his Pokémon first."

"Now we all wait to see what Pokémon Jon Dickson will send out first" the announcer shouted.

"Haunter let's go" Jon said sending out a floating ghost shaped Pokémon with large hands and a goofy face. Up on the screen Haunter took the place as Jon's first Pokémon icon.

"And Dickson chooses a Haunter as his first Pokémon" the announcer said. "Let's see how Ketchum will respond to this."

"I choose you Heracross" Ash called out sending out his giant beetle shaped bug Pokémon with a massive horn.

"And Ketchum's choice is a Heracross" the announcer said. "Now the first match of the Semi-finals begins."

"Haunter use Night Shade" Jon shouted. Haunter's hands formed together and a black beam shot out of each hand and connected to each other. Then the beam shot out from the middle and straight towards Heracross.

"Heracross use harden" Ash shouted. Heracross stood its ground and its outer shell hardened and when the night shade hit it just refracted off of Heracross and did not damage.

"What" Jon sad shocked.

"Unbelievable folks" the announcer shouted shocked. "Ketchum's Heracross has such a hardened exterior that it can deflect a nigh shade attack like it was nothing. Ketchum has trained it well to be able to withstand such an attack."

"Good job Heracross" Ash said smiling. "Now use horn attack." Heracross charged forward with its horn glowing brightly. It hit Haunter hard in the face.

"Haunter use lick attack" Jon shouted. Haunter recovered and stuck its tongue out and went straight towards Heracross.

"Wrap that tongue up with your string shot" Ash shouted. Heracross shot out some web string from its mouth and it wrapped around Haunter's tongue stopping it in place.

"Haunter try and break out of it" Jon shouted. Haunter tried to break out of the string shot, but the string was too tightly wound around its tongue.

"Alright Heracross" Ash said, "Now slam Haunter into one of the rocks." Heracross grunted and pulled Haunter towards it and used the momentum to turn around and slam Haunter into one of the rocks behind it. "Now finish it with another Horn attack." Heracross' horn glowed again and after cutting the string shot Heracross charged down into the same rock that Haunter was in and slammed into it kicking up dust and smashing rocks everywhere. When it cleared it showed that Haunter was out cold with swirls in its eyes.

The ref raised the green flag, "Haunter is unable to battle. Heracross is the winner." Haunter's icon went dark signifying its defeat leaving Jon with five Pokémon. Jon recalled his Haunter with a small congratulations and pulled out his next Pokeball.

"Rapidash, let's go" Jon shouted sending out the flaming horse Pokémon with a horn on its head. "Rapidash, use quick attack" he shouted. Rapidash charged forward with quick speeds and nailed Heracross hard.

"Heracross use tackle attack" Ash shouted. Heracross recovered and charged at Rapidash with its wings buzzing loudly.

"Rapidash duck" Jon shouted. Rapidash ducked right as Heracross flew over it, "Now use horn attack" he shouted. Rapidash's horn glowed jarred its head up and got Heracross right in the stomach and knocked it to the ground.

"Heracross" Ash called out.

"Finish it with flamethrower" Jon shouted. Rapidash unleashed a torrent of flames from its mouth and it hit Heracross dead on who couldn't get out of the way in time. The flames circled around Heracross causing a lot of damage. Soon the flames doused to show Heracross out cold with swirls for eyes.

The ref raised the red flag "Heracross is unable to battle. Rapidash is the winner." Heracross' icon went dark signifying its defeat and leaving ash with only five Pokémon.

"And now both trainers are down one Pokémon" the announcer roared as Ash recalled his down Heracross. "Now what will Ketchum's second Pokémon be?"

"Totodile, let's go" Ash called sending out his little dancing blue alligator out. "Totodile use water gun" Ash ordered. Totodile danced in mid air before rearing its head back and launching a large stream of water from its large mouth.

"Rapidash dodge it and use fire spin" Jon shouted.

"Jump to the side Totodile" Ash shouted. Rapidash had jumped to the side to dodge the water gun and then it opened its own mouth and launched the massive fire spin attack at Totodile. Totodile took Ash's command and jumped to the side to avoid the attack. "Alright Totodile get in close for a bite attack" Ash ordered. Totodile charged forward towards Rapidash.

"Rapidash stop it with flamethrower" Jon shouted. Rapidash launched flamethrower after flamethrower at Totodile, but Totodile dodged to the left and right avoiding the flamethrower. Totodile got close enough and bit Rapidash's leg making it roar in pain, "Rapidash shake it off."

"Too late, leer attack" Ash called. Totodile use the attack by staring straight into Rapidash's face. Rapidash lost most of its defense power, "Now use head butt attack" Ash shouted. Totodile jumped and smashed its head directly into Rapidash and Rapidash fell to the ground out cold with swirls in its eyes.

The ref raised the green flag, "Rapidash is unable to battle. Totodile is the winner." Up on the screen Rapidash's icon went dark signifying its defeat.

"Ash is doing great out there" Bianca commented to Lorenzo as she kept drawing.

"Indeed" Lorenzo said. "I can't wait to see how Latias will be in battle."

'Same here' Latios said telepathically from beside them. He may not have been able to battle, but he'd never miss the chance to see his sister battle.

Back down on the field Totodile looked really happy and did one last little dance before going still. Then it began to glow white making everyone else look at it shocked. It then morphed into a much bigger version of itself with a massive jaw and sharp teeth, "Croconaw" it growled.

"Totodile evolved" Brock commented surprised.

"Well Ketchum's Pokémon are sure leaving their mark in this tournament as this is the most times a single trainer has had their Pokémon evolve" the announcer said. "First it was the battle with Harrison when his Quilava evolved into Typhlosion and now his battle with Dickson where his Totodile has evolved into a Croconaw. What's next folks... another Legendary Pokémon?" (If only you knew) Up on the screen Totodile's icon changed to a Croconaw icon.

Jon returned his fallen Rapidash and pulled out his next Pokeball, "Typhlosion, let's go" Jon shouted sending out his starter Pokémon that appeared with a loud roar. Up on the screen Typhlosion's icon appeared in Jon's third slot.

"A desperate move by Jon Dickson folks" the announcer said. "When it comes to type then Croconaw has an advantage, but Dickson must have some trick up his sleeve to use against Ash."

"Typhlosion use smoke screen" Jon shouted. Typhlosion took a deep breath and blew out a lot of smoke from its mouth and it shrouded the whole field. "Now use fire blast" Jon shouted. Typhlosion fired a large fire blast into the smoke.

"Croconaw watch out" Ash shouted. Too late as Croconaw was hit full on by the fire blast and it dealt quite a bit of damage. "Croconaw use dig quickly" Ash shouted.

"Typhlosion watch out" Jon warned. The smoke cleared and Croconaw was nowhere to be seen. Then the ground rumbled a bit, "Below you" Jon shouted.

"Too late" Ash shouted. "Croconaw, use head butt." Croconaw shot out from the ground and gave Typhlosion a hard head butt that sent it flying.

"Typhlosion use flame wheel" Jon ordered. Typhlosion recovered in mid air and charged down at Croconaw with a massive flame wheel attack that left Croconaw now way of dodging so Croconaw took the full attack head on. Typhlosion jumped away from the sight and landed on its legs and soon the smoke cleared to show Croconaw passed out with swirls for eyes.

The ref raised a red flag, "Croconaw is unable to battle. Typhlosion wins." Up on the screen Croconaw's icon went dark leaving Ash with four Pokémon left.

"Return" Ash said recalling his Pokémon, "Take a nice long rest." Ash pulled out his next Pokeball, "Let's go Charizard." Out came the massive flying dragon shape Pokémon with a loud roar.

"And Ketchum is also sending out one of his most powerful Pokémon so soon" the announcer said. "Hopefully this is all a part of Ketchum's plan or else this match will end pretty soon."

"Charizard use dragon rage" Ash ordered. Charizard opened its mouth and it quickly fired a massive yellow ball of energy at Typhlosion.

"That Charizard is quick, but it's nothing we can't avoid" Jon said confidently. "Typhlosion dodge and use fire spin." Typhlosion jumped into the air and managed to dodge the dragon rage attack. Then the flames on its back roared to life and Typhlosion launched a massive swirling fire storm at Charizard.

"Charizard fly into the air," Ash called. Charizard flew high into the air and avoided the fire spin. Jon smirked and Ash just realized his mistake. "Charizard move quickly" Ash shouted.

"Too late" Jon shouted as the fire pin that hit the ground swirled up into the air and managed to catch Charizard in its swirling vortex.

"Would you look at that folks" the announcer said. "Just when Ketchum thought he had Charizard out of the blast does Dickson pull a fast one on him."

"Charizard use flamethrower" Ash shouted. Charizard heard him from within the flames and used his own flamethrower to break out of the flames and the flames were on a direct course for Typhlosion.

"Typhlosion move out of the way" Jon shouted. Typhlosion jumped out of the way just in time to avoid the flamethrower. Then Charizard appeared right next to Typhlosion surprising it and Dickson.

"Alright Charizard end it with your Blast Burn attack" Ash called out.

"Blast Burn" Gary said confused. "I've never heard of that attack."

"It's a very rare attack" Professor Oak said and those around him were listening. "Blast Burn is like a fire version of Hyper Beam. It is capable of dealing very fatal damage to a Pokémon if it hits directly. The reason it is so rare is that it is hard to teach and it can mostly only be taught to the fire version of starter Pokémon."

"Sounds like a very powerful move" Delia said snapping pictures.

"Oh it is" Professor Elm said this time. "But it has a fatal weakness as well. Blast Burn is mostly a one shot move to use in battle. After it is fired the first time then the Pokémon that used it must recharge its strength in order to continue battling."

Back in the battle Charizard had opened its mouth and white flames were forming in its mouth and soon Charizard fired a very powerful flame attack that enveloped Typhlosion's whole being and the flames continued on into the sky. After ten nearly thirty seconds of nonstop fire did it finally die down. Typhlosion fell to the ground with burn marks all over its skin. Its eyes were swirly as it breathed out a plume of smoke. The ref raised the green flag, "Typhlosion is unable to battle. Charizard is the winner." Typhlosion's icon went dark signifying its defeat and officially eliminating half of Jon's team.

"And with that incredible display of power we will take a five minute break now that half of Jon Dickson's Pokémon have been eliminated" the announcer said. Jon returned his Pokémon with a sour look on his face.

'Blast Burn... I never expected that' Jon thought to himself as he watched Ash recall his Charizard. 'It's amazing. How can a kid who hasn't even been on a journey for two years already have such high level Pokémon and a Legendary on top of that?' Then he smiled slightly, 'That kid is something else entirely.'

Ash looked at the Pokeball containing Charizard, 'Blast Burn took a lot out of Charizard. I'll save him for later. Jon has lost his Haunter, Rapidash and Typhlosion so he has a Rhyhorn, Scizor and Tyranitar left. He'll most likely save his Tyranitar for last and I don't know what he'll send out next. To help Charizard recover I'll send out Typhlosion next.'

"Attention trainers, five minutes has now passed" the announcer called. "Please return to your boxes to the match may continue." Both Jon and Ash stepped up in their boxes ready to see who would send out their Pokémon next. "Now to determine who will send out their Pokémon first." The screen began shuffling through green and red before it finally stopped on green. "And Ash Ketchum will be sending out his Pokémon first. Will he be sticking with Charizard or will he choose a different Pokémon?"

"I choose you Typhlosion" Ash called sending out the same Pokémon that Jon just lost.

"And Ketchum has chosen to send out his own Typhlosion into battle" the announcer called out. "How will Dickson respond to this?"

"Rhyhorn let's go" Jon said sending out his rhinoceros Pokémon. Both Pokémon took their spot in the fourth slot of their trainers. "Rhyhorn use earthquake" Jon ordered. Rhyhorn stomped hard on the ground causing the ground around them to shake. Typhlosion could barely keep itself standing from all the shaking. "Good job now use tackle attack" Jon said. Rhyhorn gave a loud throaty roar and charged at Typhlosion who was still under the affect of Earthquake.

"Typhlosion dodge it" Ash called. Typhlosion tried to move, but because of the shaking ground it was too wobbly and it fell to the ground. Rhyhorn eventually got to it and slammed it hard with its tackle attack doing quite a bit of damage because of its hard exterior.

"Typhlosion use swift attack" Ash called. Typhlosion hopped up and quickly shot out a mass of stars from its mouth and they all hit Rhyhorn, who was got fairly damaged because of it. "Typhlosion, hurry up and get Rhyhorn before it recovers with a flame wheel attack." Typhlosion roared and charged at it with flames building up around its body.

"Rhyhorn use drill run" Jon shouted. Rhyhorn then stood up and began running towards the oncoming Typhlosion and it gained speed. Soon its body began rotating rapidly and they crashed into each other. There was another explosion that filled the area with smoke.

"These battles are more like pyrotechnic shows as there is another explosion from a head on collision" the announcer said. "Now we must wait to see whose Pokémon will come out on top." The smoke soon cleared to show both Pokémon were passed out with swirls in their eyes and they were both lying in a crater. "Unbelievable after that head on collision it appears both Pokémon are unable to battle."

The ref raised both flags, "Both Rhyhorn and Typhlosion are unable to battle." Both icons on the screen went blank, but Ash still had three Pokémon left whereas Jon only had two.

"Drill run, what's that" Misty asked Brock.

"It's a special ground type move" Brock said. "It's almost like an advanced form of Horn Drill. Only instead of the horn rotating it's the whole body. It has a much higher chance of scoring a critical hit than any other ground type move. That's mostly why it ended up in a draw."

Both trainers called back their fallen Pokémon and Ash decided to show his Pokémon first, "Noctowl, let's go" he shouted and sent out the shiny bird Pokémon who gave a loud hooting sound. Up on the screen Noctowl appeared as Ash's fifth Pokémon.

"And Ketchum sends out his Noctowl and a shiny one to boot" the announcer said excited. "Now which Pokémon will Dickson send out to combat it?"

"Scizor, I choose you" Jon called sending out the evolved form of Scyther. Scizor was a bright red color with massive claws and wings. Scizor took its place in Jon's fifth slot. "Scizor fly up and use metal claw" Jon called. Scizor opened its wings and flew into the air towards Noctowl.

"Noctowl, dodge and use night shade" Ash shouted. Noctowl dodged to the left and Scizor flew right past it. Then Noctowl's horns glowed darkly and it fired a black beam straight towards Scizor. Scizor then disappeared and appeared behind Noctowl. "What" Ash said shocked.

"Scizor use X-scissor" Jon commanded. Scizor put its claws together in an X formation and they glowed white. With a loud cry Scizor shot hit arms down and an X shape of energy shot down and nailed Noctowl hard sending it down to the ground.

"Noctowl, use steel wing" Ash shouted. Noctowl shot back up with its wing glowing and slammed directly into Scizor. "Good job use another steel wing."

"I don't think so" Jon said. "Bock it with your metal claw" Scizor's claw glowed white and it blocked Noctowl's steel wing attack. "Good job, now finish it with your iron head attack." Scizor's head hardened and it slammed its head hard into Noctowl. Noctowl hooted loudly in pain before it fell to the ground and landed there with swirls in its eyes.

The ref raised the red flag, "Noctowl is unable to battle. Scizor wins." Noctowl's icon went dark signifying its defeat.

"And with that defeat Jon Dickson has tied it all up with each of them only having two Pokémon left" the announcer said. "Both have one Pokémon who have seen battle and have taken some damage and one Pokémon who hasn't taken any damage yet at all. Now will Ketchum send his Charizard back out or send out his final Pokémon?"

"Charizard, let's go" Ash said sending out his flying/fire type Pokémon. Charizard reappeared with a loud roar. Ash's third icon lit back up again with Charizard's icon.

'Even though Scizor is extremely weak to fire attacks I can still weaken Charizard more to where Tyranitar can take it out' Jon thought to himself. "Scizor use your agility" Jon called. Scizor flew down and began moving in fast circles around Charizard to avoid it. Charizard looked around to try and pinpoint Scizor's exact spot.

"Charizard, use flamethrower" Ash called. Charizard blasted out a flamethrower at what he thought was the original Scizor, but it wasn't. "Try again" Ash called. Charizard complied, but again he missed.

"Scizor is too fast to get hit by something like that" Jon smirked, "Scizor, use metal claw." Scizor stopped behind Charizard and Charizard turned just in time to receive a metal claw right to the face. "Good now hit it again with night slash." Scizor's claws glowed purple and then he slash Charizard hard dealing a lot of damage and a critical hit.

"Charizard hang in there" Ash called out.

"Now end it with a fury cutter" Jon called out. Scizor dived down towards a downed Charizard for a furry cutter attack that would end it.

"Watch out" Misty yelled to him.

"Fire spin now" Ash shouted. Charizard opened its eyes and turned to Scizor and fired a massive fire spin attack at Scizor. Scizor took the full brunt of the attack. Jon gaped in astonishment and Ash grit his teeth and growled slightly hoping that it worked. Soon the dire spin attack ended and Scizor fell to the ground with burns all over its steel body and swirls for eyes coughing up plumes of smoke.

"I don't believe it" Jon said shocked.

The ref raised the green flag, "Scizor is unable battle. The winner is Charizard." Up on the screen Scizor's icon went dark signifying its defeat and leaving Jon with only one Pokémon left.

"With five of his Pokémon gone Jon Dickson has only one Pokémon left to battle with, but will it be enough to defeat Ash Ketchum" the announcer said enthusiastically.

Jon pulled out his last Pokeball, 'It's all up to you now.' "Tyranitar let's go" he called. Out came a massive dinosaur shaped Pokémon with massive fangs and a green body. It gave a long mighty roar. Tyranitar took its spot on Jon's last slot.

"And Dickson's last Pokémon is Tyranitar" the announcer cried. "Tyranitar is a very powerful Pokémon. Does Ketchum have the strength left to defeat this powerful Pokémon?"

"Charizard use flamethrower" Ash called. Charizard fired a massive flamethrower at Tyranitar.

"Tyranitar dodge and use dark pulse" Jon said in a calm voice. Tyranitar dodged to the side effortlessly and formed a dark ball in its mouth and fired it at Charizard and it hit Charizard dead on. Charizard flew back from the hit with a roar of pain.

Ash stared in shock 'One dark pulse did that much damage. It's risky... but it's my only chance to deal some damage.' "Don't give in Charizard" Ash shouted as Charizard struggled to its feet. "We're gonna win this. Give that Tyranitar a taste of your full powered Blast burn attack."

"Ash is using Blast burn again" Bianca commented.

Professor Oak nodded, "I see where he's going with this. He knows that Charizard is too weak to defeat Tyranitar right now so he's going to use its most powerful attack to try and weaken it so Latias can deal with the rest."

Charizard roared and opened its mouth to fire the Blast burn. "Tyranitar stop the attack" Jon shouted. Tyranitar charge forward and tackled Charizard away before it could fire the attack. Twirling in mid air from the attack Charizard managed to stop himself and with a glare towards Tyranitar Charizard fired the Blast burn. "Dodge it Tyranitar" Jon shouted.

Then another explosion took place covering the field in smoke. After a few seconds it cleared and showed Tyranitar still standing although it's left arm had been singed from the being too close to the blast burn attack. Charizard on the other hand was on the ground out cold with swirls in his eyes. The ref raised the red flag, "Charizard is unable to battle. Tyranitar is the winner." Up on the screen Charizard's icon went dark signifying its defeat and leaving Ash with only one Pokémon left.

"Ketchum's Charizard put up a courageous fight, but in the end Dickson's Tyranitar was too powerful for it to handle" the announcer said. "With one Pokémon left can Ketchum stage a comeback." The crowd was cheering for Ash, "The crowd is cheering for Ketchum to release his Latios."

Ash smirked a little, 'They'll get a legendary, but it will not be Latios.'